Soapbox: Quit packing east side
No doubt Elgin City Council members will point to the $275,000 to $325,000 value of the 14 homes proposed on the 3-acre former YMCA property as reason to approve such an "upscale" project. They won't mention, we are certain, that the project requires variances to allow less parking, smaller lot sizes and homes closer to the street than current zoning allows. Stop packing the east side. And stop breaking your own rules.
Topping off jail
Kane County officials celebrated a construction industry tradition called "topping off" by putting their names to the concrete of the $55.8 million jail in unincorporated St. Charles Township this week. The moment marked the finish of exterior work excluding paint and cosmetics and it also indicated the project remains on-time and on-budget for an opening near the middle of next year.
Olympian thinking?
While kicking in $20,000 to help establish the Northwest Suburban Chicago Sports Council, Hoffman Estates officials also revealed they have some Olympic-sized hopes for the Sears Center. They hope the group, which has attracting the AAU women's basketball and karate tournaments at the top of its to-do list, might make the facility attractive as a venue or practice venue in the event Chicago wins the 2016 Summer Olympic Games. Never hurts to think big, of course, but we can't help thinking additional parking would make it an easier sell.
Pause before you preach
Judgment day may take on new meaning given an Algonquin man's claims a Crystal Lake priest's homily harmed his reputation. Claiming the priest and his supervisor defamed him, the former parishioner is seeking more than $50,000 in compensatory damages and more after one priest allegedly used his pulpit to ask parishioners if they should send the Algonquin man to Hell or another parish after the man had criticized the priest's earlier words. No matter the outcome, the very filing of his lawsuit will likely give preachers everywhere pause before they preach.
Don't hold the mayo … er, money
McHenry County roads advocates are hoping lawmakers have a new view on the county's road situation as well as the adage "there's no such thing as a free lunch" after their visit to Springfield this week. The McHenry County Roads Coalition delivered 230 boxed lunches to Springfield lawmakers Wednesday in an attempt to draw attention to the increasingly dire traffic situation on key county roads. Do you suppose they told lawmakers just how long those sandwiches sat in traffic?
Scary answer
U-46 school board President Ken Kaczynski's reaction to parent complaints about the board's unresponsiveness at meetings might have been more scary than the contract it approved for a superintendent now living out of state on the public's dime. "There's a certain danger into entering into a dialogue with the public" during meetings, said Kaczynski in published reports. Indeed there is. Like board members might be reminded it's that "dangerous" public they are supposed to be representing.
Scarier still
Apparently McHenry County Board members are none too worried about the public, "dangerous" or not. The board just OK'd pay hikes for the auditor, coroner, recorder of deeds and circuit clerk, from $86,086 to $104,737 by 2012. That "cost of living" hike of salaries, which were about $75,000 only three years ago, will equalize their pay with the county's other elected department heads. Bet it will also hike taxpayers' blood pressure.